Providence Health System Transitioning from Acute Care to New Types of Services

In an effort to make care more accessible to its changing community, Washington, D.C.-based Providence Health System will transition out of acute care services by the end of 2018 and will instead offer care coordination, telehealth services and virtual care, primary and urgent care, home care, community-based behavioral health care, senior care and more, the organization said in a statement. Providence will also assess “non-health care-related services,” hoping to address patients’ lifestyles outside of a health care setting. Providence will work with civic leaders, clinical teams, various task forces, and other groups throughout the transition. “We know that 15% of a person’s life is spent in actual health care, which means the remaining 85% is spent in other areas that either positively or negatively impact their overall well being,” said Keith Vander Kolk, health system president and CEO. “That is where the greatest opportunity to make meaningful change lies, and we must put our focus and energy on advancing a model of transformation that will serve the District in new and lasting ways.” Providence, which is part of Ascension, will remain in Washington, D.C. Its skilled nursing facility, Carroll Manor, will continue to operate uninterrupted as part of Ascension Living, the senior living and care division of Ascension. Providence says that its task forces will “review plans” for this division as well as for “all other services.”